Julie James (I Know What You Did Last Summer)

Julie originates from Lois Duncan's 1973 suspense novel I Know What You Did Last Summer. She is a high school senior who lives in the fictional New Mexico city of Silver Springs with her widowed mother. Initially a fun-loving cheerleader with an active social life and an ambivalent attitude toward her education, near the end of her junior year, Julie was involved in a hit-and-run accident of a cycling boy with her boyfriend Ray Bronson, and friends Barry Cox and Helen Rivers. Overwhelmed with guilt and fear, Julie quit cheerleading, grew distant from her friends and devoted herself to her schoolwork in an attempt to get accepted to a college as far away from home as possible to forget about that night she and her friends accidentally killed the boy.

One year later, she receives a sinister note alluding to a past tragedy involving herself and her group. Despite Ray's attempts to reassure her, Julie's instincts drive her to seek answers, further reinforced when she visits Helen, hoping for comfort and support. She suggests visiting the Greggs, the family of David, the boy who died in the accident, in search of clues. During their visit to the Gregg household, Julie engages in conversation with Megan, David's mother, hoping to glean information about the mysterious note. Through their conversation, Julie learns more about the impact of David's death on the Gregg family, deepening her empathy for their grief. Julie's resolve is further tested when Barry is shot and left paralyzed. She supports Ray as he grapples with guilt and tries to convince Barry to break their pact of silence. As the tension escalates, Julie's instincts lead her to suspect Collie, a new acquaintance of Helen's, as the perpetrator behind the threats. Her suspicions are confirmed when Collie reveals himself to be David's brother and attempts to harm her. In a climactic confrontation, Julie finds herself in mortal danger as Collie, now revealed as Bud, attempts to kill her. Through sheer willpower and determination, Julie survives the ordeal, rescued by Ray's timely intervention. Throughout the harrowing ordeal, Julie undergoes a profound transformation, emerging as a resilient and courageous young woman. Her unwavering determination to uncover the truth and confront her fears ultimately leads to her survival and newfound strength, leading to her eventual confession of her guilt.

Julie makes her cinematic debut in the 1997 film. On the Fourth of July, her friend Helen Shivers wins the Fourth of July Croaker Beauty Pageant and after celebrating, Julie and Helen go to the beach with Julie's boyfriend Ray Bronson and Helen's boyfriend Barry Cox. While driving on the byway, they accidentally run over a pedestrian. They decide to dump the body into the sea and never talk about what happened. One year later, Julie left Southport, North Carolina, and receives a letter that reads "I know what you did last summer!". Returning to her hometown, she reunites with Helen, Barry, and Ray, telling them that the man they hit was named David Egan and that his death was labeled an accidental drowning. When a hook-handed killer begins to menace the town, Helen and Julie visit David's sister Missy for more information, but Julie is overcome with guilt and leaves. Julie returns to Missy's, only now with suspicion of a man named Billy Blue. Missy tells Julie that David killed himself and Julie figures out that David wasn't the man they hit, and that another man named Ben Willis is likely the culprit. Ben tricks Julie into boarding his boat before undocking it. Ray catches up to their boat and saves Julie by cutting Ben Willis's hand off and sending him overboard.

Julie returns in the film's 1998 sequel. With the first anniversary of the events of the first movie, Julie has become increasingly paranoid, but her spirits seem lifted when she and her new friend Karla win four tickets to the Bahamas, enough for them, Karla's boyfriend Tye, and one more person. Julie initially wants Ray to come, but he declines and Julie instead invites her other friend Will Benson. While singing karaoke there, Julie receives a message on the karaoke machine, reading "I still know what you did last summer." When people start being murdered, Julie starts seeing visions of their corpses, and when she asks to leave she is told that an upcoming storm means that will be impossible. The killer tries to tie a tanning bed shut with Julie inside, but she is saved by her friends and she saved Karla from the killer with the axe. With all the hotel staff being murdered, the group is ambushed by the killer, who is revealed to be Ben Willis, who survived the first movie, and Will, who is revealed to be his son. Julie is saved by Ray again, who just arrived on the island and takes down Will. Julie then shoots Ben to death. The next morning, Julie, Karla, and Ray are rescued from the island.

Julie returned in the 2025 sequel, now as a college professor living outside Southport.^[1] By this time Julie and Ray have been married but divorced some years ago, their relationship embittered due to their different methods of dealing with their trauma over the murders. Despite her vow not to return to Southport, Julie becomes concerned when she is visited by Ava Brucks, one of a group of young people being stalked by a new killer who has intimate knowledge of Ben Willis's killer tactics. Julie eventually returns to Southport when she realizes that while one of the killers is Ava's friend Stevie, Stevie had help from Ray, who owns the bar where Stevie works and had learned Ben's tactics throughout his ordeals; the victim in this accident was Sam Cooper, a friend Stevie made in rehab, with Ray deciding to help Stevie face her trauma by killing the people she blamed for what happened. Julie subsequently helps Ava to get a harpoon gun nearby and kill Ray when he rants about plans to frame Julie for the murder spree. Julie subsequently seeks out Karla to warn her that there may be another murder spree in the future, as Stevie's body has vanished rather than her being explicitly dead.